All the groups opposed to Trump's Army secretary pick Mark Green

Mark Green's nomination faces rising opposition that will be hard for the Senate to ignore. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)

Since Mark Green was tapped to be President Trump's Army secretary last month, every day seemed to bring another statement opposed to his nomination. Since the announcement of his nomination on April 7, the former flight surgeon had been hit by liberal groups, lawmakers and even one celebrity over his past comments on gay marriage, transgenderism and Islam.

Here's a rundown of who has spoken out in recent weeks and why:

American Military Partner Association

AMPA was among the first groups to cite what it called Green's anti-LGBTQ record and comments he made last year regarding President Obama's push to allow transgender people to use the bathroom based on the gender with which they identify.

"The notion that Mr. Obama thinks he can tell the state of Tennessee who can go into a men's bathroom or a women's bathroom is absurd," Green said during a town hall-style meeting posted in September.

In another comment, he told the crowd that a vast majority of millennials accept transgender rights, but medical professionals have a different view.

"If you poll the psychiatrists, they are going to tell you that transgender is a disease," he said.

"Green has made a shameful political career out of targeting LGBT people for discrimination. All soldiers and their families, including those who are LGBT, should have confidence that the Secretary of the Army has their back and is working for their best interest," AMPA President Ashley Broadway-Mack said.

Human Rights Campaign

HRC, keying onto those same quotes, has called Green among the most extreme anti-gay and anti-transgender politicians in the country, and said his views contradict core values of the military.

"His confirmation would send a dangerously harmful message down the chain of command undermining the incredibly important progress we've made toward ensuring all soldiers are treated fairly — regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity," according to the group.

In his speech last year to the Tea Party group, Green also touched on the issue of gay marriage.

"We're not going to issue marriage licenses to gay people because our state voted differently," he said "OK, Supreme Court you said it and I don't care. I'll back you up."

He also compared infanticide of children with Down syndrome to what the public thought 30 years ago about "two guys getting married."

"At what point do you just say I drew this line in the sand and no," Green told the audience.

Council on American-Islamic Relations

The group, which says it is the country's largest Muslim civil rights group, accused Green of Islamophobia for claims to a Tea Party group that public school students are being indoctrinated with Islam by textbooks.

"When you start teaching [students] the pillars of Islam and you start teaching how to pray as a Muslim, that is over the top and we will not tolerate that in this state," Green told the crowd.

During an open-mic question-and-answer session, Green said he agreed with an audience member that Islamic indoctrination of public school students in Tennessee is "alive and well."

Green, who said his father was a Baptist preacher, raised concerns about a textbook that taught "how to pray like a Muslim" and said students should be taught history such as when "Constantinople fell to the Muslim horde or whatever you want to call it."

"They should also teach that in Islam it's different because they actually ... marry their religion and political faith together," he said.

The Tea Party discussion also touched on the birther conspiracy around Obama. When asked by an audience member whether Obama is a Muslim, Green said "I can't answer that question" despite the theory being widely discredited.

GLAAD

The media monitoring group criticized Green for saying during a radio interview last year that allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice could traumatize women.

In the interview, Green said the Obama administration's effort to expand the rights of transgender people to use the public bathroom could lead to sex assaults.

"There are 300,000 rapes in the United States every year, 300,000 women who are sexually assaulted by predators, and we know this, it is documented, it's factual," Green said. "To think that some young guy isn't going to take advantage of the system where we're going to allow guys to go into the women's bathroom, to think that that's not going to happen is just ridiculous."

The political Left is waging a war on women by forcing them to be exposed to predators who would take advantage of new transgender rights, he said.

"There are millions of women who potentially could be suffering the [post-traumatic stress disorder] of having been raped and they're sitting in a bathroom and they see a guy come walking in," Green said. "How incredibly insensitive is that of the political left to think that this should just be OK."

Quoting the Bible, the Tennessee businessman followed up the comments by saying the government exists to honor and reward citizens who do good and punish those who do wrong.

"That means, as a state senator, my responsibility very clearly in Romans 13 is to create an environment where people who do right are rewarded and people who do wrong are crushed, evil is crushed," he said. "So, I'm going to protect women in their bathrooms and I'm going to protect our state against potential infiltration of Syrian ISIS people through a refugee program. Whoever wants to stand up and take me on on that, I'm ready to fight," Green said.

"The Trump administration must have been desperate to fill this post because Mark Green's anti-LGBTQ remarks should disqualify anyone seeking to be in charge of the United States Army, which includes many out and proud soldiers," Sarah Kate Ellis, the president of GLAAD, said.

Caitlyn Jenner

The transgender reality TV star and former Olympian said she was concerned about Green's comments inferring that transgender people are evil or a disease.

"He's made some of the most anti-LGBT statements ever — calling me, a trans person, as a disease. I have to tell Mark Green, I don't have a disease, OK?" Jenner told Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Muslim Advocates

The national legal advocacy group said Green has a "deplorable record of stereotyping and trafficking in harmful rhetoric" against Muslims.

"You can't lead a diverse Army while having contempt for diversity. Our armed forces are filled with patriotic Americans of all faiths, races, sexual orientations and gender identities, and Mark Green's naked bigotry disqualifies him for the job of Army Secretary," it said.

The Palm Center

The advocate for research into LGBT issues in the military called Trump's pick a "stealth extremist" who would roll back civil rights advances in recent years.

"Mark Green is a perfect nominee for the people around President Trump who want to start a culture war in the United States military, and who would bring back 'don't ask, don't tell,' " which made it a crime to be openly gay, Director Aaron Belkin said.

National Center for Transgender Equality and Equality California

The advocacy group pointed to Green's legislative record of supporting "numerous" anti-LGBT pieces of legislation in the Tennessee legislature and claimed he called transgender people "diseased" in past comments.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the House minority whip, said Green's past comments are "disgusting" and show a "clear record of homophobia and transphobia." He joined a group of 31 House Democrats who earlier wrote a letter to the Senate asking it to reject the nomination.

"Appointing someone with a clear record of homophobia and transphobia, who has made disgusting statements demeaning toward groups of Americans, would send the absolute wrong signal about the values for which our military service members are risking their lives," Hoyer said.

"Mr. Green's past statements and actions have made it clear that he cannot be trusted to ensure that LGBT soldiers are able to serve their country without discrimination or harassment," the House Democrats wrote in the April 24 letter.

On May 5, Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was "deeply offended by the discriminatory comments ... and I condemn them. They are not acceptable positions for a service secretary to hold, and he should withdraw his name from contention from this position."

Senate Democrats

Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer emerged May 3 to oppose Green, based on the legislation he pushed in Tennessee. So far he is the only senator to speak out against Green's nomination.

"A man who was the lead sponsor of legislation to make it easier for businesses to discriminate against the LGBTQ community; opposes gay marriage, which is the law of the land; believes being transgender is a 'disease;' supports constricting access to legal contraception; and makes deeply troubling comments about Muslims is the wrong choice to lead America's Army," Schumer said in a statement.

That same week, Sens. Joe Donnelly and Elizabeth Warren, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced their opposition.

"Now more than ever, we need our nation's best and brightest to serve as soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation," Donnelly said.

Warren said Green has made "hateful and ignorant comments about our fellow Americans" and should be disqualified.

Faculty members at military schools

Nine professors and 12 former faculty members from military service academies and war colleges signed a letter calling Green a "serious threat" to military values.

They say he has attacked the gay and transgender community as well as Latinos, women, Muslims, and members of the armed forces.

"Mark Green would undermine good order and discipline by fostering dissension within the ranks and sowing confusion about what the military stands for," they wrote.

OutServe-SLDN

The country's largest LGBT advocate for military service members said on May 2 it was organizing an opposition campaign Green's selection, calling it a "grenade in the tent" of the military's advances in the area of civil rights.

"Mr. Green's anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim, anti-women record in the Tennessee legislature stands in stark contrast to the American values of justice, fairness and tolerance we all hold dear. He must not be confirmed," Matt Thorn, executive director for OutServe-SLDN, said in a statement.

Truman National Security Project

Eighty-one members of the progressive Truman National Security Project, many of them military veterans, signed a letter urging the Senate to reject Green. They argued that his political views and opposition to LGBT rights could damage cohesion in Army units.

"As every military leader knows, unit readiness at every level is built on mutual trust, often referred to as unit cohesion. When leaders denigrate service members on the basis of their personal characteristics, it undermines that essential trust," the group wrote. "As several of you know firsthand, that can be the difference success and failure on the battlefield."